I wish I had a dollar for every great idea, moment of profound wisdom, or funny anecdote that I had, and then lost. I don't know about the rest of you, but I always seem to have those moments when I'm not in a position to be able to write or type anything down. You know how it is. Like when you're behind the wheel of your car, or when you're on the treadmill at the gym, or when you're sitting in the dentist's chair.

Unfortunately for me, I seem to have these "lost" moments the most when I'm standing in the shower. There's something about standing under running water that seems to draw out my most intelligent thoughts and profound insights... and then promptly losing said insight because I didn't have any means to write the damn thought down. Seriously. I'd say about half of my Jedi Beatles entries were born while rinsing out the shampoo. Some of the lines that apparently had folks laugh the most came to me as I watched the suds swirling down the drain. Only I managed to remember those lines after exiting the shower simply because I kept repeating them in my head, fearful that I'd forget them if I let my thoughts stray onto some other path. Some classic lines were lost that way.

So why do we tend to have such moments in the bathroom? Whether you're answering the call of nature, or cleaning up in a bath or shower, I'm pretty sure everybody else here has had those moments. But there is a difference, though. If you're sitting on the toilet when the moment of brilliance hits you, you can at least solve the problem for the next time by leaving writing materials on the toilet tank or even the sink countertop. But you can't really do that for when you're in the shower, can you? Unless somebody out there is trying to invent waterproof paper & pens, the shower is still one place where your thoughts have little hope of being recorded immediately.

So when folks in the GFFA use the refresher (or 'fresher, as it's colloquially known), do they ever have that moment when they come up with some amazing idea, then lose it because they didn't have the means of recording it? Admittedly, I'm making a big leap here, because I'm assuming that the GFFA actually uses water as the primary medium for cleaning/refreshing themselves, water which wouldn't mix well with unprotected electronics.

If there's any Star Wars character I imagine having this problem, it's the Emperor. That guy has so many dastardly plans turning in his head, that I always figured he must keep a small notebook or personal datarecorder stashed in his robes for when the moment strikes. And since he can't exactly trust anybody with his Sithly wisdom, he's forced to record his thoughts while nobody else is looking. This makes his moments of solitude all the more important to him. But presuming he bathes alone (wouldn't be surprised if he's got some Twi'Lek babes scrubbing him down in the shower), how many nuggets of pure evil malice might have washed down the drain?

PALPY (in the shower): Thermal exhaust port... thermal exhaust port... how do I seal that sucker off and still allow for the exhaust to discharge?? Hmm... I could ask the engineers to put some chicken wire screening over it, that would keep out any "foreign" objects... Soon as I get out of the shower, I'm going to call Moff Tarkin and--ahh waitaminute. Did Vader remember to pick up those extra lightsaber crystals that I asked him to get?? He better not have gotten them from Radio Shack again. *Sigh* I better double check as soon as I get done in here. Now, what was I thinking about again...?

And thus the fate of the universe turned, over the fear of inferior-quality lightsaber crystals from Radio Shack.

So I figure for every successful evil thought Palpatine developed into a genuine triumph for the Dark Side, there must have been a few that got washed down the drain of his 'fresher. But I'm sure every Star Wars character was bound to have some "down the drain" moments at some point or another: Boba Fett in the shower, contemplating his jet pack's vulnerability to activate after being struck from behind, but then remembers that he has to pick up some rare Mando armor pieces from a black market dealer, and promptly loses his train of thought; Zam Wessell in the bath, deciding to buy some cortosis shielding for her arms, but hears her comlink chirping (it's Jango) outside the 'fresher, and forgets the thought; Jar Jar Binks, in a rare moment of genius, is swimming in his bathing hole when he considers introducing a measure in the Senate chamber calling for more checks & balances on the Chancellor, only to be distracted by a cute gooberfish swimming by, and the rest is history...

And so there's my consolation. For all the million-dollar ideas I've lost to shower drain, I take heart that even guys like Palpatine must have lost a few thoughts the same way, to the salvation of the galaxy. Plus, there's the added consolation that there will always future moments when we're sitting on the "throne" or standing under the shower nozzle, when the "genius fairy" might still sprinkle her pixie dust on us, giving us that little flash of brilliance from time to time.

Now, would somebody please jump into the shower so they can figure out how to invent some waterproof paper??